Norwich grad receives diploma - 25 years late!

In
a ceremony that should have taken place nearly a quarter of a century
earlier, Gifford Slater '79 finally received his official Norwich University
diploma.

From his office in Jackman Hall, President Richard W. Schneider awarded
Slater his Bachelor of Arts diploma, with Registrar Fran Burstein assisting.
The document, which was signed by Loring Hart and should have been issued
upon Slater's degree completion twenty-five years ago, was discovered
by accident this past summer during a routine closet cleaning session.

The
antique sheepskin, still packaged in the original mailing tube in which
it was to have been sent, was found in a long-forgotten box in the Registrar's
office. When it was brought to Burstein's attention, she checked with
Slater to see if he had ever received one, and he confirmed that he had
not.

"When my class graduated twenty-five years ago, I still needed to
fulfill my foreign language requirement, and so did not receive my diploma
at Commencement," said Slater.

In the summer of 1979, after finally receiving the credits he needed
in Spanish, Slater was commissioned an Army Second Lieutenant, and immediately
reported for active duty in Fort Sill, OK. The diploma, which would have
been awarded at Convocation that fall had Slater been present, somehow
never made it to the Post Office and has remained at the University ever
since.

Slater, upon being notified that the diploma had been found, wondered
at first if anyone had checked to see that he had, in fact, met all the
requirements for graduation.

"I
thought there must be a reason he didn't get his diploma," concurred
Burstein, "but his bill was paid, and he passed all his courses.
I personally checked the transcript -- and with the Bursars' Office to
make sure there wasn't any money owed!"

As an interesting side note, while Slater was out training in the Field
Artillery in Fort Sill, OK, his future bride, Connie, was a freshman at
Norwich, and was sitting in Plumley Armory when Slater's name was read
out during Convocation. They both now reside in Northfield, Vermont, where
Slater is a Major Gift Officer, with an office only four doors down from
the President.

According to Slater, the long wait to receive his diploma was worth it.
"I can now display the official document on the wall to prove that
I am a Norwich grad," Slater said.